


Family Visit

by pasiphile



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: ...sort of, Domestic Violence, False Identity, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Sibling Rivalry, Unhealthy Relationships, also, both of the partner and sibling kind, weird incestuous overtones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-18 05:05:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5899327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pasiphile/pseuds/pasiphile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After years and years of Richard being used by his brother for whatever purpose Jim sees fit, he finally gets the opportunity to take a little revenge of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Visit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NadineRoseM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NadineRoseM/gifts).



He could’ve said _please_.

That was the thing that kept bothering Richard. Jim could have said please. He could’ve asked nicely, checked if Richard had plans, announced it at a couple of days in advance, or even simply explained why he had scheduled two meetings at the same time, why he couldn’t move either of them. He could’ve been _considerate_.

Instead, he had just left a message on Richard’s voicemail saying nothing more than  _be me tonight_.

‘Course, Richard had gotten more details in a couple of subsequent emails, but those had been impersonal, curt. Might as well have been written to a stranger. It just wasn’t – he wasn’t Jim’s fucking _servant,_ for god’s sake. He was his brother. He was doing Jim a favour, a bloody big favour, and all he got in return was –

Well. Nothing, basically.

The alarm buzzed. Richard glanced at the screen – Sebastian, unlocking the front door – and punched in the code. The buzz stopped. Richard went back to the mirror, bounced on his heels, looked around the flat some more.

It was _weird_ , being in Jim’s space, wearing Jim’s clothes and Jim’s hairdo and Jim’s face, especially without Jim himself here to supervise. It felt – invasive. Dizzying, disorienting, like he was losing track of who he really was.

Not that it was the first time he had to stand in for Jim. He couldn’t count the times he'd had to pretend to be his brother, to teachers and social services when they were young, evolving to criminals and politicians and fuck knows who else when Jim was starting to move up in the world. Richard deserved some kind of lifetime achievement award for all the playacting he’d done. Hell, he deserved a fucking _Oscar_.

He sighed, then checked his reflection again. Not quite there yet. The outer characteristics matched, but the posture, the expression…

He pulled his shoulders back, tilted his head a little, smiled. Confidence, confidence. I’m in control and the rest of the world can go fuck itself.

Imagine feeling like that 24/7.

Behind him, the door opened. “Hi,” Richard said absently, still studying his reflection.

“Hi.” Sebastian closed the door. “Bloody weather,” he added, hanging up his rain-soaked coat. He gave Richard a quick look, grinned, headed for the kitchen and in passing quickly squeezed Richard’s shoulder.

Richard froze.

Sebastian didn’t touch him. Sebastian _never_ touched him – and Sebastian, from what Richard had seen, was a pretty hands-on person, so that probably meant Jim had given him The Speech. So why?

Sebastian wouldn’t just ignore Jim’s orders. Even if he did, he wouldn’t do it this casually. Which could only mean…

Richard stared at his reflection. Eyes wide and shocked, a distinctly un-Jimlike look, but apparently the rest of him looked enough like his big brother to fool even the closest to him.

Richard glanced aside at Sebastian, who was rummaging inside the kitchen. Clueless. He didn’t have any idea that the person in the room with him wasn’t his – his _lover_ , his boss, his whatever the fuck Jim was to Sebastian. He fully and completely believed Richard was Jim.

Richard looked back in the mirror, bit his lip. From god knows where a tiny spark of rebellion was lighting up.

So good not even those closest to Jim saw the difference, eh? Just like Jim had fooled Richard’s closest, time and time again?

Well. Karma’s a bitch.

Richard smiled. Even to his experienced eye it looked a lot like Jim’s smile.

He turned, hands in his pockets, and leaned casually against the wall. “You took your time,” he said, in a fair approximation of Jim’s slightly annoyed drawl.

Sebastian shot him a quick look. “London traffic. You know what it’s like.”

“Sure you didn’t _linger_ somewhere?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “As if.”

“Well, you’re here now. Go get changed, you look like something the cat dragged in.”

“Yes, _sir_ ,” Sebastian said, with an ironic little salute, and he disappeared to the bedroom. Richard waited until he was entirely out of sight, then leaned back against the wall and blew out his cheeks.

It was working.

God help him, it was _actually_ working. Unless Sebastian was having him on, but – no, he wouldn’t. Sebastian was a lot of things, but he wasn’t cruel. He never played games with Richard, had expressed a distaste for that sort of thing often before, and when he talked to Richard it was always with a weird mixture of kindness, respect, and just a hint of condescension.

There was no condescension now. This – well, this was Sebastian in Jim-mode.

Richard grinned, then pushed off and sauntered to the bedroom. Funny, but that was the way it always went; the longer he spent inside Jim’s skin, the easier it felt.

He leaned in the doorway, arms crossed. Sebastian had changed his trousers and his shirt was still hanging open, and _god_ , the man was beautiful. All lean muscle and smooth skin and grace and barely-hidden strength and that lazy languid fluid way of moving he had…

“Approve of my fashion choices, then?” Sebastian asked. “Or should I change again?”

“It’ll do,” Richard said, bored and superior.

Sebastian started on the buttons. “It’s just going to end up splattered in blood, hm?”

“Only if you fail to do your job.”

“My _job_ doesn’t have anything to do with…” He trailed off, shirt still mostly open and his hands paused.

Then he smiled.

Richard raised an eyebrow, keeping up the front even though his heart had started beating doubletime because yeah, fine, Sebastian was a laidback kind of guy but he wouldn’t be very amused by being played like this either.

“What?” Richard snapped.

“You tell me.” Sebastian dropped his hands by his side. “We still have about an hour until we need to leave, right? Plenty of time.”

“For?” Richard asked, mouth dry.

“Anything you want – although, maybe not anything.” Sebastian’s smirk grew. “Last time I saw _that_ look on your face, I ended up not being able to walk properly for three days straight, so you should probably restrain yourself a little.”

“Oh, should I?” Richard said, mostly on autopilot. His mind had screeched into static at the first glimpse of Sebastian’s insinuating smile, and now it was starting up again, wondering what the hell Jim had done to Sebastian that he'd have trouble walking…

Sebastian threw his hands up in apology. “Hey, I’m not telling you anything. Just reminding you –”

“To be gentle with you?” Richard sneered.

Something flared in Sebastian’s eyes, and at the same time – his jaw squared and he swallowed and he looked – was that fear? Excitement? Both?

Both.

Fuck it.

Richard strode forward, grabbed Sebastian by the front of his shirt, and slammed him hard against the wall. Sebastian went willingly, without even a sign of surprise.

_Bad idea bad idea bad idea bad –_

Richard leaned in close, then stopped just an inch away from Sebastian’s mouth. Sebastian was panting, his arms hanging loosely by his side, his eyes dark and focused on Richard’s mouth.

“Well then,” Richard said, softly. “Do your _job_.”

Sebastian’s hand grabbed the back of Richard’s head and he was pulled into a heated kiss. For a fraction of a second he was overwhelmed, before he remembered – Jim, confidence, aggression.

He bit down hard on Sebastian’s bottom lip and pressed close, tilting his hips and pushing his thigh against Sebastian’s crotch. Sebastian gasped against Richard’s mouth, and his hands went to Richard’s shoulders and he spun them around, so Richard ended up with his back against the wall.

For a second he was disoriented again, because Jim – he didn’t let himself be manhandled, didn’t let other people take control. Nothing could piss off Jim like people trying to dominate him. But Sebastian was the exception to a lot of things, and maybe this was something like that, maybe Jim liked the fight.

Richard pulled Sebastian’s hips close to his, then reached up, fingers digging hard into Sebastian’s neck. He dragged his nails down Sebastian’s chest – Sebastian groaned – and kissed him, hungrily, swallowing all Sebastian’s little needy noises.

After a moment Sebastian pulled back and moved on to Richard's neck, biting a kiss just underneath his jaw. Richard tilted his head back and squeezed his eyes shut, inhaled sharply. Sebastian’s hands went down to Richard’s – well, technically _Jim’s_  - belt, and then it was out of the way and the zip was down and Sebastian’s hand reached down into Richard’s boxers, fingers curling around his cock, and Richard moaned, and -

\- and Sebastian stopped moving.

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even pull away his hand. He just kept standing there, his breath hot against Richard’s neck.

Then, “You’re not Jim, are you?”

Richard winced. He opened one cautious eye and saw Sebastian looking down at him, face unreadable.

“You play dangerous games, Richard,” Sebastian said, hoarsely.

“My _life_ is a dangerous game,” Richard muttered, feeling suddenly very very tired.

Sebastian stepped back, started buttoning up his shirt. Putting a barrier up between them. It stung, like rejection – but what the fuck else had he expected? 

Sebastian cleared his throat. “Why the hell did you – ”

“Why the hell _not_?” Richard snapped. “Why can’t I just – _he_ does it all the time, so why for just one _fucking_ time can’t I be the one who, who…” He trailed off, the frustrated anger dying off the way it always did. No point, was there?

“Who what?” Sebastian asked.

Richard shook his head and did up his trousers and belt, avoiding Sebastian’s eyes. “You don’t know what it’s like,” he said miserably. “To be – to have Jim control everything you do, everything you _think_ , to never be able to make a decision of your own, to always – always know he’s _there_ , telling you what to do, ordering you. No control of your own.” Richard rubbed his hand over his face.

When he looked up, Sebastian was staring at him.

“Er…” Richard said, uneasily.

Sebastian’s hands went up and he started unbuttoning his shirt again.

Richard straightened up. “I thought you said…”

Sebastian lowered his eyes, not replying. He took the shirt off and dropped it to the ground, took a deep breath, then turned around.

Richard made a small, involuntary sound.

“He did this the first time I stayed over,” Sebastian said, voice strangely flat, still with his back to Richard. “When we – when he decided he’d let me into his life. This was the price. Well, one of the prices.”

He bent over and took his shirt back.

Richard couldn’t reply, eyes glued to the deep, ugly scars on Sebastian’s back.

“So yeah, I know,” Sebastian said. “I know exactly what it’s like. The only difference between you and me is that with me, it’s only been going on for three years, not my whole life.” He turned and gave Richard a wry smile. “I still don’t quite get how it’s not driven you completely bonkers by now.”

“I’m used to it.”

“You mean you never knew anything else.”

“That’s… what I said, isn’t it?” Richard asked, puzzled.

“No.” Sebastian sighed. “No, it’s not.” He sat down heavily on the bed.

Richard hesitated. “Should I, er…”

“Go?” Sebastian looked up. “No. We still have a job to do, don’t we? I mean, that’s why you’re here, to play Jim’s double? Or was this just a – ”

“No,” Richard said hurriedly. “No, he didn’t – I mean, Jim just told me to come here, wear the clothes, prepare. I assumed he’d have told you.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t.” Sebastian fell backwards onto the bed, hands across his stomach. “Fucking bastard probably did it on purpose, to see what happened.”

“Maybe I should…” Richard chewed his lip. “But if I leave now he’ll know.”

Sebastian pushed up onto his elbows and gave Richard a look. “Mate, come on. He’s your brother. You should know better. He’ll know whatever you do.”

Richard groaned and ran his hands over his face. “He’s going to kill me.”

“Or me,” Sebastian said, with a kind of morbid cheerfulness. “I got the whole _don’t touch him or I’ll skin you_ speech, remember? Did you?”

“Sort of.” Richard slid his hands off his face. “Or, well, I don’t know. He makes about as much veiled references to threesomes as he does to castrating me if I – ”

“ _Does_ he?”

“Er, yeah. So, who knows.”

“He’ll probably kill us both, then. Seems like him.”

“Very neat.”

“He never does like to leave traces, does he?”

Richard stared at Sebastian. Sebastian stared back.

And they both burst out in laughter.

“Sorry,” Richard hiccupped. “It’s just – this whole thing is _ridiculous_.”

“Tell me about it.” Sebastian wiped laughter-tears from his eyes. “God, this is – You don’t know how much of a bloody _relief_ it is, to finally have someone who – ”  He broke off.

Not that he needed to continue. Richard had thought exactly the same. All those years with Jim, alone, and now suddenly there was someone who not only shared some of his experiences, but who saw them in a similar way, with the same dark humour and resigned inevitability.

“You’re unique, you know,” Richard said, still smiling a little.

Sebastian frowned. “What?”

“He’s had people before, people he’s shagged and bodyguards and hired help,” Richard said. “But it’s never been like you.”

“Like me?”

“He…” Richard chewed his lip, trying to think of the right words. “He doesn’t keep you at a distance. He doesn’t – I mean, he never lets people close. _Never_.”

“Except for you,” Sebastian pointed out.

“Yeah, well. That wasn’t exactly choice, I reckon. He just made the best of an awkward situation.” Richard went over and sat down heavily on the bed, at the other end of where Sebastian was sitting. “The embarrassing baby brother.”

“So… It’s always just been you and him, then? Before me?” Sebastian asked.

“Basically, yeah.”

“What’s this like, then, for you?” Sebastian cocked his head. “Am I an intruder? Are you jealous?”

“ _God_ , no,” Richard blurted, and Sebastian smiled.

“Still,” he said. “Must be weird for you. Having someone to share all this with.”

 “I suppose.” Richard rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven’t given it much thought. I mean, you and me. Because you’re, er…” _Inapproachable. Intimidating._

_His._

“I’m what?”

Richard shook his head. “Nothing. Never mind.”

Sebastian fell back on the bed again, hands behind his head. “I didn’t know what to expect, you know,” he said, glancing at Richard. “When he said he had a brother, I mean. I thought you’d be – alike, in a way. Or at the very least loyal to the bone.”

“I _am_ loyal.”

“So am I,” Sebastian said, casually. “Just not – you don’t quiver in your boots just thinking about him.”

Richard snorted. “Yeah, I do, actually. If you think I’m not terrified of him you’re – ”

“I know, I know. Only people with no self-preservation instinct aren’t scared of him. But it’s not _just_ that, is what I mean.”

Richard gave Sebastian a long look. Sebastian’s eyes were closed, which helped, ‘cause Sebastian had a way of looking at people that could give Richard the same squirmy naked feeling he tended to associate with Jim. He was smiling, too, in a quiet ironic way which looked pretty damn familiar to Richard, and…

“Yeah, fine, okay,” Richard said, and Sebastian cracked on eye open. “It _is_ nice having someone to talk to, someone who can understand. But it’s not like – I mean, you’re not that easy to talk to.”

“I’m not?” Sebastian asked, eyebrows raised in what seemed to be genuine surprise.

“Well, no?” Richard gestured at Sebastian. “Have you _seen_ yourself?”

“Oh, come on, that’s a bit teenaged, isn’t it? You think I’m hot so you get all tongue-twisted around me?”

Richard gave an awkward one-shouldered shrug. “Call it conditioning, then. I’ve learned to stay away from men like you, ‘cause it usually just ends in humiliation and heartbreak.”

“Men like me?” Sebastian echoed, softly.

Richard fell back on the bed and covered his face with his hands. “You know what I mean,” he mumbled.

Sebastian didn’t reply.

Richard slid his hands off and looked at the ceiling, feeling completely at a loss. This might be the weirdest conversation he’d ever had, and the competition was steep.

“So this wasn’t just to get back at Jim, was it?” Sebastian asked slowly.

“No.” Richard rolled his head, looked at Sebastian. “That was just the – whatsit. Justification. And means, really. I wouldn’t have been mad enough to try and come onto you as myself, you know.”

“Huh.” Sebastian frowned. “So you two share a taste in men, then, do you?”

Richard huffed. “Share more than just that taste. Although, as Jim likes to point out, I don’t actually have a type. Or rather, my type of man is _anyone who shows even the slightest bit of interest in me._  You excepted, obviously," he added, with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.”

Richard rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because I’ve got the same face as your – your boyfriend.”

“Hm, maybe, but… I’m not that superficial, you know.” Sebastian smiled. “It’s not just about looks, it’s – I don’t know.” He frowned and looked at the ceiling. “Personality, maybe? And when it comes to that, you’re very different from Jim.”

Richard stared at him. “So what you’re saying is that if you weren’t together with my brother, you’d be more than happy to fuck me?”

“Pretty much.”

Richard groaned and rolled over, face-down onto the mattress. “ _Fucking_ Jim.”

Sebastian patted him on the back. “There there.”

“Fuck my life, seriously. Can’t I just have one nice thing without Jim getting his paws all over it?”

Richard turned his head. Sebastian had come closer. He was leaning on one elbow, looking down at Richard with a really strange expression.

“Look at you,” Richard said bitterly. “I could’ve just bumped into you at a bar, have the best damn shag of my life, but no-o, of course Jim got there first. And it’s not like you’re going to break up with him, is it? No, you’re just going to prance around here for the rest of eternity looking stupidly attractive and utterly unreachable and it’s going to –”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Sebastian said, and he grabbed Richard’s shirt and yanked him into a kiss.

He wasn’t like before, all devouring fiery energy and aggression. He was almost gentle, weirdly. His tongue licked at the seam of Richard’s mouth, his teeth gently tugged at Richard’s bottom lip, and his hand was warm, careful, on the back of his neck.

Richard pushed up, Sebastian tugged, they rolled, and somehow he ended up on top of Sebastian. Sebastian threw his arm around Richard’s waist, pulling him close, and Richard tangled his fingers in Sebastian’s hair and kissed for all he was worth.

Sebastian really was a good kisser. And if he was half as good a shag, then…

No.

It wasn't worth it.

They broke off, forehead to forehead. Sebastian was panting slightly. Richard was, too.

“Bad idea?” Richard murmured.

“Spectacularly bad idea.”

Richard kissed him again. Sebastian made a little sound and took Richard’s neck, careful, gentle, and _god_ …

Richard pulled back, breathed in deeply, then got off Sebastian and back to his feet. He swayed a little, feeling like he’d just stepped off a plane, or come up from underwater.

Sebastian was still lying on the bed. His trousers were tented, Richard couldn’t help but notice.

_Fucking_ Jim.

“I need a fucking cigarette,” Sebastian groaned.

Richard jerked his head. “Not in the bedroom. Come on, living room.”

Sebastian made a sound like a disgruntled bear, then hopped to his feet. He grabbed his jacket and went to the living room, and Richard followed at his heels.

Sebastian immediately went to the window. Richard gave him a look, then flopped down on the sofa.

Strangely, he didn’t feel particularly awkward. Maybe it was Sebastian, who seemed to waft with whatever the opposite of awkwardness was. Or maybe it was just that Richard had gotten used to fucking weird situations – and so had Sebastian, probably.

Quite the track record, they had.

Sebastian lit up. Richard waved his hand. “Can you spare one?”

Sebastian tapped out another one, put it between his lips to light it, then came across the room to put the cigarette neatly in Rich’s mouth.

Rich took a drag, smiled. He could almost taste Sebastian’s lips on the paper.

“You okay?” Sebastian asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“Sure.” He grinned. “Not exactly the first time a potential shag ends up in sexual frustration. Jim is quite fond of seeing me with blue balls.”

“Can you _please_ not mention your balls?” Richard pulled a pained face. “I’m only just hanging on here.”

Sebastian didn’t reply.

Richard frowned. “What?”

“You looked just like him, for a second.” Sebastian shook his head. “Never mind. Budge over, will you?”

Rich pushed up onto his elbows to give Sebastian room. Sebastian sat down, then grabbed Rich’s shoulder and pulled him back, so his head was resting on Sebastian’s thigh.

“Comfy?” Sebastian asked, with a filthy smirk. “Or does this fall under the _don’t-mention-the-bollocks_ thing?”

“I’ll survive,” Richard sneered.

Weird, really. His face was literally only a few inches removed from Sebastian’s cock. And yet he did feel comfortable, even with the last bit of attraction and lust simmering in the back of his mind.

What was it about Sebastian, that made him so easy to be with?

“So,” Richard said, after a few moments of silence. “If I know Jim, he’s gonna barge in here any minute now, trying to catch us _in flagrante_.”

“Bit too on the nose for him, isn’t it?”

Richard craned his neck to catch Sebastian’s eye. “Are you joking? He’s a fucking drama queen. He won’t be able to resist the idea of catching us in the act.”

“But he’ll be watching us, somehow. He must’ve seen – ”

“Doubt it.” Richard took a deep drag from his cigarette. “There are no cameras in this house, remember? Too dangerous, in case someone could hack ‘em.”

“Sure he hasn’t bugged the bedroom? I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“He wouldn’t.” Richard looked up at Sebastian and smiled. “You’re too good, you would’ve noticed it and realised something was up.”

Sebastian grinned. “Why thank you.”

Richard waved his cigarette. “You’re welcome.”

“So…” Sebastian stretched out, arms wide on the sofa. He looked down at Richard, a strange smile on his face. “What was it he said about _threesomes_?”

Richard choked on the smoke, face going red –

\- and of course that was the moment Jim came in.

Sebastian’s head immediately swung up, focusing on Jim like a puppy on its master. Richard forced himself to stay down, keep cool, not give Jim the satisfaction of a startled reaction - no matter how fucking  _startled_ he might actually feel.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jim asked lazily.

“Pre-job relaxing,” Richard said, still recumbent on Sebastian’s thigh. He was oddly proud of the relative steadiness of his voice. “Helps with the nerves. You want a fag, Jim?”

Jim strode across the room and Richard’s stomach clenched. In odd synchronicity, he could feel the muscle of Sebastian’s leg go tense as well.

Jim stopped right at the side of the sofa. Richard looked up at his brother and tried not to feel like a scared rabbit.

It didn’t really work.

“So what have you been up to in my absence?” Jim asked, eyes still focused sharply on Richard, as if he was trying to suck the truth from him.

“Er, fraternising?” Richard sat up and handed the cigarette to Jim, who brought it to his lips without breaking eye contact.

“Fraternising,” Jim echoed sarcastically.

“Just, er, w- working together. Like you want.”

“Do I?” Jim asked, in his softest voice.

Richard swallowed.

Jim jerked his chin. “Go on, then, get the coat. And try not to let them see you from the back, the jacket’s all rumpled, you _idiot_.”

Richard jumped up and went to the bedroom, just in time to hear Jim’s deceptively quiet “and _you_ – ” directed at Sebastian, but then the conversation went too muted to hear.

Richard closed the bedroom door behind him, leaned his hands on the wall, and bent his head, breathed out. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Okay, they’d – messed around a little, but nothing serious had happened. That was the important thing. They had _stopped_.

Question was, would Jim see it that way?

Richard took Jim’s coat from the wardrobe and shrugged it on. He took a bit of time rearranging his appearance in front of the mirror – his hair was all mussed up, no wonder Jim had grown suspicious – then straightened up and assumed one of Jim’s standard expressions. There. Undistinguishable from the real one.

Richard stared at his mirror image. He couldn’t shake the feeling that it _was_ Jim in there, judging him, sneering, threatening.

Richard’s nails dug into his palm. Nothing had happened. Jim had fucking set this up, messing with both of them on purpose, and even so Richard hadn’t sprung the trap. Why the _hell_ should he apologise? What fucking right had Jim to act like he’d overstepped?

The same right that had made him boss Richard around since they were toddlers, of course. Well, he was bloody sick of it.

He shoved the door open and went back to the living room. Sebastian was still sitting down, and Jim was looming over him, hands resting on the back of the sofa, trapping Sebastian. Neither of them reacted to Richard, so he leaned his shoulder against the doorway and crossed his arms.

“Interrupting something?” he said sharply.

Jim looked up, eyes flashing.

How many times had the lesson _don’t give him lip_ been forcefully instilled into Richard? But for once, he didn’t really feel inclined to take it back. Blame the suit, maybe, the disguise, the arrogance that came with being Jim, even when it was all just pretend.

Jim pushed off the sofa and went over to Richard. He stopped right in front of him, too close, invading his personal space. Expecting Richard to roll over, as always.

Instead, Richard straightened up and spread out his arms, crucified-messiah pose. “Well then?” he asked, sneering. “Do I pass? Don’t I look _exactly_ like the original?”

Jim glared at him.

Despite his resolve, Richard started trembling. By some inhuman effort he managed to keep eye contact, clinging desperately to his anger, focusing on it. The fucking _unfairness_ of it all.

“We probably should get going now,” Sebastian said, from somewhere far away.

Jim leaned fractionally closer. Richard clenched his teeth. He was sick of this, he wouldn’t just roll over this time, his entire fucking existence wasn’t defined by Jim’s wishes, he wasn’t –

He wasn’t…

Oh, fuck it, of course he was.

Richard dropped his eyes, fingers curling into frustrated fists at his side. After a moment, Jim put his knuckle underneath Richard’s chin and tilted his head up, forcing him to meet Jim’s eyes.

“Got this out of your system, then?” Jim asked softly.

Richard licked his lips and nodded, mutely.

The corner of Jim’s mouth went up a fraction, something too small to be called a smile. “Don’t fuck this up, Rich.”

Richard shook his head, tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth.

Jim let go of Richard’s chin and went to the table. “Now _move,_ ” he said, in a completely different tone. “I’m not having you arrive late.”

Sebastian was already at the door. Richard cleared his throat and glanced at Jim.

“Come on,” Sebastian said, quite calm. “Job to do.”

Richard went to the door, trying to fight the feeling that he was a toddler running to the protective arms of his mum. The feeling wasn’t helped by Sebastian taking his shoulder and squeezing in a decidedly reassuring manner. Richard looked over his shoulder, half in panic – but no, Jim looked _amused_ more than anything.

“Keep in touch,” Jim said, casually but with an edge to it.

“Will do,” Sebastian replied. He opened the door and gave Richard him a little push. Richard swallowed and went outside, but only breathed out when the door was closed behind him.

“Well,” he said, throat dry.

“Well,” Sebastian echoed. He looked about as relieved as Richard felt.

Richard cleared his throat, then grinned up at Sebastian. “No murder. That’s nice.”

“Er – you okay?” Sebastian asked, frowning. “You looked like you were about to faint.”

Richard shrugged. “Like I said. I’m used to this. It’s amazing how quick a recovery time I’ve developed by now – _not_ ” – he pointed warningly at Sebastian – “like that.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Sebastian said wryly. “Jim got the message through to me. I ain’t trying nothing.”

Richard took off to the lift. “Shame,” he quipped. “I kinda enjoyed your trying, to be honest.”

Sebastian followed him, shaking his head in exasperation. “Honestly, just when I think the two of you couldn’t be less alike, you….”

Richard glanced at Sebastian. “I what?”

“You prove me wrong, is all I’m saying.”

“Do I?”

The lift pinged. Sebastian got in and held the doors open. “Coming?” he asked, one eyebrow up.

“One sec.” Richard looked over Sebastian’s shoulder into the lift’s mirror. Still him all right, even with the clothes and the hair. He drew himself up, loosened the tension in his shoulders and neck, and remembered the look on Sebastian’s face when he had him pushed against the wall.

The resulting smirk was one hundred percent undistinguishable from Jim’s.

“Bloody hell,” Sebastian said softly.

Richard grinned and stepped inside the lift, throwing a wink at Seb while he was at it. “Chop chop.”

Sebastian cleared his throat and pressed a button.

Richard kept grinning all the way to the ground floor.

 


End file.
